TOC Europe Day 1: Thinking outside of the box

07 Jun 2011 - By Holly Birkett - Editor's Blog

Tuesday 7th June - TOC Europe 2011, Antwerp.

The last time you booked a flight, how did you do it? Did you do it online?

Have you had anything couriered or posted recently? And when did you expect it to arrive – on time, or a week afterwards?

I know these are odd questions, but do bear with me.

You probably booked the flight online because it was quicker, easier and more convenient than schlepping out to the travel agents. As for your parcel, of course you’d want it to arrive exactly on time – because that’s the service you’re paying for.

Maersk CEO Eivind Kolding’s keynote this morning (which I live-tweeted here) highlighted these facts, and Mr. Kolding said that Maersk would be implementing a new strategy to apply these three common-sensical principles that we take for granted in our everyday lives to its shipping operations – that is reliability, ease of business and environmental responsibility.

The shipper has launched a new website to promote discussion about these new principles – www.changingthewaywethinkaboutshipping.com, where you can join the debate.

I interviewed Mr. Kolding this morning, which will be published in full on our website tomorrow along with his responses to some of our readers' questions. Stay tuned!

Those who follow me on Twitter (@PortTechEditor) might recall that on Friday I suffered a port equipment-related emotional meltdown.

“Cargotec have something very special up their sleeves for TOC Europe!” I crowed, heart very obviously racing. “My mind has been BLOWN!”

Forgive me, dear readers, for my girlish excitement but you will come to understand, for it was on that day that I received the sneak preview of what Cargotec presented at their official press dinner last night: Port 2060.

What is Port 2060? From my perspective, Port 2060 is what will get us impassioned about container terminal design again – or, at least, what will get us debating it from a critical angle, and reimagining its future.

As I reported earlier, Port 2060 came about when a number of employees at Cargotec came together to imagine what the port of 2060 might look like and how it might operate. They were encouraged to think as ‘out of the box’ as possible. The result was flying spreaders (via nano-fibre technologies), hovering trucks (thanks to air cushions or magnetic levitation), and some truly out-of-this-world styling.

Is this just an elaborate marketing daydream, or are these ideas really feasible? Cargotec’s Executive VP for EMEA, Harold de Graaf assured me that all of the ‘futuristic’ technologies incorporated in Port 2060 have some grounding in technologies that exist today (such as nano-fibres) – just to varying extents.

But to analyse the ‘realism’ of Port 2060 is to miss the point. The clash of creative licence and technological foresight serves to inspire debate, critique and the formulation of new innovations that can be developed in the near future.

To do this, Cargotec has opened up a portion of the new Port 2060 website where everyone can have their say. The company hopes to have amassed great enough discussion by the end of this year to begin developing the next stage of tomorrow’s port technologies.

On Day 1 of TOC Europe 2011, it is interesting to note that the world's biggest shipper and one of the biggest port equipment groups are taking inspiration from consumers and critics alike.